A recent study by Australian psychologist Richard Bryant of the University of New South Whales looked at the outcome of traumatic injuries on 1084 patients 3 months and 12 months after admission to hospital. He found that of the 33% of individuals who suffered from some form of psychological disorder following the trauma, the most common problem was depression (16%), followed by generalised anxiety disorder (11%), substance abuse (9.9%) and PTSD and agoraphobia (9.7% each). Other less frequently occuring problems were social phobia, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and panic disorder. Bryan’s research found that individuals who were suffered mild traumatic brain injury(TBI) were 50% more likely to develop symptoms of PTSD following a trauma than were individuals who did not experience a brain injury.
What is important to note from this research is, firstly, that only a third of individuals who were subject to traumatic injury went on to develop psychological problems. Second, psychologists and other mental health care workers should not concentrate on PTSD exclusively when they are treating survivors of trauma. Reference: American Journal of Psychiatry 167, no. 3 (March 2010): 312-20, cited in Psychotherapy Networker, Sept/Oct 2010.